Booklist - 05/01/2017 *Starred Review* It was a rainy afternoon, and Vee the canary had been waiting outside Murray MacMurray’s detective office all day. The pigeon’s heart hadn’t been into sleuthing since his partner skipped town, but he couldn’t ignore the yellow bird any longer. Vee, desperate for help, divulges that two of her friends have been birdnapped! When Vee herself goes missing a few weeks later, Murray knows he has to take the case. Clues and rumors of a feather thief lead him downtown, where a confrontation with the bird behind the disappearances gives Murray a shock. Will he be able to rescue the victims of this crime ring and nab its boss? McLaren’s tongue-in-cheek pastiche revels in hard-boiled tropes, from Murray’s ever-present fedora and first-person narration (“Business was slow, just the way I liked it”) to the Red Herring restaurant and intelligence gathered “on the wire”—literally from birds sitting on a wire. Much of the story’s humor and cleverness is born out in the digital illustrations, which are full of detail and variety: double-page spreads mix with paneled scenes, and pun-laden newspaper clippings will reward keen-eyed readers with laughs. Additionally, entertaining endpapers display the pigeon PI’s guides for investigation. It won’t be a mystery when this highly enjoyable picture book disappears from your shelves. - Copyright 2017 Booklist.